The Compassionate Creator

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Introduction (1-4)

I. Jesus Our Creator (5-

1. Intro Hook

I think one of the worst feelings in the world is being invited to go someplace fancy, while feeling you’re not important enough to be there.

You might have gone to a dinner party that was way too fancy for you and a guest asks you what you do for a living. “I work for google.” “Oh, are you a VP or a designer?” “No, I answer the phones”. “Oh, excuse me I need to be somewhere.”

2. Intro Into Today’s Message

As we follow Jesus during His three years of public ministry, He never acts too important for people. In fact, His schedule is mostly full of unimportant people. If you were to make a schedule for where the Messiah should go to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth, you wouldn’t choose the places and people He actually visits.

Why does Jesus spend so much time circling a lake called the sea of Galilee in northern Israel instead of visiting the palaces of Kings? He spends almost all His time talking to nameless people. The Samaritan woman, the prostitute, the leper, the paralyzed man. Yet, when He is around the great men of History like Herod or Pontius Pilate He seems unimpressed.

Just imagine- pontius pilate, the governor appointed by Caesar Tiberius himself. When Jesus speaks to him privately He is totally uninterested in impressing him. When Pilate asks Jesus if He is the Christ, Jesus is dismissive “You have said so”.

Our text today is John 2:1-12, the wedding at Cana.

Nazareth population <500. Cana had a few dozen.

Why is He here? Why not at the kings palace instead of with these unimportant people.

Because to Jesus, there is no unimportant person. Jesus doesn’t look at clothes or status. The old hymn calls Him Jesus, lover of my soul.

4. Today’s Text

John 2:1–12 ESV

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

[Pray]

1. The Miracle John 2:1–8

2. Series Reminder

As a church we are going through the first 6 chapters of the book of John in a series we’re calling “Who is this Jesus”?

Today’s Message, the turning of water into wine is the first of Jesus’ seven signs in the book of John.

5. Begin Walking

[1] On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. [2] Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.

This was “third day” after Jesus recruits Phillip and Nathaniel. He is invited to a wedding in Cana. Like we said, this was a small town event. John 21:2 Tells us Nathaniel was from Cana, plus Mary was going so they went.

6. Weddings Explained

1. There was a period of betrothal. This was usually around a year, in which the groom was preparing a home for his bride. (Sound familiar?) The groom would also give a bride price (mohar) to the bride’s family.

2. On the wedding day the bride would dress up ath home, the whole family fawning over her. Then the groom and his friends would come up with some friends carrying torches to pick up the bride. Singing and music would follow the procession.

3. After the wedding was a feast, that would last up to seven days for wealthier families. They would have tons of food, music, dancing and storytelling. The host, the grooms father along with the groom was expected to pay for all of this. Can you imagine paying for a multi-day wedding? No wonder they ran out of wine.

7. Mary’s Request

[3] When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” [4] And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

Joseph is missing. Jesus would have been the go-to guy for Mary. Keep in mind this is Jesus’ first public miracle (v11) so we aren’t sure if she’s even expecting a miracle. Yet, she has such trust in Him she goes to Him anyways with this big problem.

Notice here that Jesus says to her “woman”. Much like saying ma’am. Not like saying “mom”, though.

[5] His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Nevertheless, Mary gives instructions for the servants to listen to Jesus.

Compassionate people care about the powerless and the poor. They don’t seem to have much time for the people who have no problems- have it altogether.

If you’re unaccustomed to Jesus, you might think He was saying don’t bother me. But Mary knows Jesus’ character. He is not too important to help anyone.

Illustration: Kids Ministry Prayer

My kids come up to me because they know I can usually solve their problems.

8. Circle back to verse 4

v4...What does this have to me? Well, nothing really.

“My hour has not yet come.” Referring to the hour of His crucifixion. Jesus does this stuff all the time; telling people He heals to not tell anyone. He doesn’t do so a sneaky ploy to spread gossip, He does so because if He is too well know too early He will be crucified before His time. Remember- Rome is occupying His country. If there is news about a Messiah, who the Jews think is a king. Jesus dies early.

9. The Miracle Itself

[6] Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. [7] Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. [8] And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it.

The stone jars were notably filled to the brim. No room to pour a secret concentrate in there. In fact, Jesus isn’t recorded as even touching this. The servants just filled the jars, then drew some out to take to the master of the feast (the event coordinator, not the host).

This is a creative work by the way- God is the one who makes wine You should see that Jesus doing this is Him acting as Creator.

Yes, you should see how impossible this miracle is. The servants do all the work- and yes the water turns into wine while they’re working. This is a habit of Jesus in many signs/miracles. The Centurion’s daughter is healed at a great distance. Lazarus was three days dead when raised to life.

In this we see a characteristic of God in the Old Testament- God often does miracles the hard way.

Jericho the walled city full of mighty men. Could they have won with a seige? maybe. Instead the walls fall by them blowing horns.

Gideon had 32,000 men with him to fight the Midianites. God reduced the number so he won with just 300.

Do you see a character trait here? He does the impossible so that He alone is glorified.

John writes his gospel so that you “may believe” what? That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (therefore God Himself).

John 20:31 ESV

but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

If you’ve been married or lived with someone for a while you can recognize them by their habits: I know what my wife opening a door sounds like. I hear the keys hitting the door, I hear the way she pushes the door. I’ve heard this thousands of times. I would know if someone else had our keys and was trying to get in. I don’t know how but I do.

“Imagine you’re one of the disciples. It’s your third day on the job of following the Messiah and He performs this miracle. This sounds familiar... Isn’t God the only one who makes wine? Wasn’t it only who turned the water into blood? Isn’t God supposed to be the only one who creates things out of nothing by His word alone?”

Jesus did hundreds of other miracles. Yet John includes this one, and Jesus performs this one first in front of His disciples for one reason- so that they may know He is God.

2. The Result John 2:9-12

[9] When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom [10] and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

I want us first to notice that the Master of the feast is totally clueless here. He calls out to the groom for all to hear, “You have saved the best wine for last”. What a wing-man! Have you ever been to a wedding where a speech is given that makes fun of the groom? Yeah, you can get a cheap laugh for that. The bride finds out just who her now husband is. But this guy- he calls out for all to hear- “what a mensch, you’re the man”. He hypes up the groom.

Imagine the groom. He spends the last of his money to put this together and the wine is running out early. He’s having a good time, but in the back of his head he’s thinking “oh man”. Just then 120 gallons of fine wine is rolled out from the back! What a wedding gift.

What do we learn about Jesus here?

That Jesus delights in us! He is not a harsh taskmaster. He does not desire for us to be sad.

"Believer, you are happy when God blesses you, but not as happy as God is. You are glad when you are pardoned, but He who pardons you is more glad. The prodigal son was happy when he returned to his father, but not as delighted as his father was when he saw him coming back." (Charles Spurgeon, "The Sympathy of the Two Worlds")

The invitation to follow Jesus is a path of true abiding joy. Do you know that? Do you consider a life walking with Christ a sad one? Why? Because you can’t do the things you wanted to do at first? C.S. Lewis says before we are in Christ, we are like children playing in a mud puddle unable to imagine a holiday at sea.

2. Jesus gives us good things. The wine Jesus gives to the party is good wine. When we give our lives to Jesus, we aren’t getting an equal trade. In fact, the trade is pretty one sided. Christ receives a tired corpse and we receive the favor of God.

3. Jesus is the only one who can transform. The water wasn’t mixed to make wine like you make kool-aid. The water was transformed into wine. This is the work of Jesus. Why do these first five disciples follow Jesus? Because John said there goes the Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is the only one who can do it.

[11] This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Here we see why this story is written down at all. Yes water into wine is a miracle but I want you to hear this: miracles are never just to fix the problem at hand. Jesus isn’t a wizard who goes around fixing inconveniences with magic- He is performing a sign (John makes this distinction).

What is this sign for? Signs exist to point us to higher truths. We aren’t meant to see this story on face-level. You’re meant to understand that Jesus is God, He has come to totally transform us and the rest of Creation. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and He will establish Justice and He will give us a new heaven and a new earth.

If you’re a believer this morning I want you to apply these truths to your life. The psalmist speaks to his own soul to remind it, so I want you to do the same. There are many things you can do with your week, but there are few better than this: Remind your soul that Jesus delights in you. He gives you good things, and that He transforms you.

If you’re not a believer I want you to think about this story and apply it to your soul as well. What would have happened if no one admitted the problem at the wedding? Jesus saved the day because there was a problem for Him to solve.

Jesus said Mark 2:17 ““Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.””

Whatever your problem is, I promise you Jesus can fix it.

My dear friend who is also a Pastor often says “When I preach the Gospel, I’m not a salesman. I’m a satisfied customer.”

No one in this room can cure the sin that is killing you, but we can take you to the doctor.

Brothers and sisters I want you to see today the Compassion of our King:

Philippians 2:6–11 ESV

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.